Flash Fanfiction - Episode 34 - Everyman
by Reign Atkins
Summary: A theft inside of STAR Labs, seemingly done by one of their own, leads Barry on a case to find a meta-human who can turn into anyone he likes... Hannibal Bates. Also introducing Patty Spivot.
1. Chapter 1

Detective Joe West met with Barry, Astrid, Caitlin, Cisco and Harry in the STAR Labs cortex to gather a full description of the robbery that had taken place the night before.

The Flash had searched all night for the criminal, who was an exact double of Astrid Sutherland, complete with her fingerprints, but had come up empty handed.

"While I am both surprised and curious as to how DR Wells is back, we should get back to the matter at hand… this, other Astrid… Were there any differences between them, at all?" Joe asked the group.

Barry went over the surveillance footage alongside Cisco and Joe at the computer. "Her clothing style." Barry said, "…and the way she walks."

"Yeah… This Astrid is seriously hiding something, she's acting very suspicious…" Cisco replied, "…like she's nervous or something. Also, Astrid doesn't dress in fur."

Astrid, Caitlin and Harry reentered the cortex. "Whoever she was..." Astrid said, "...she was only looking for money. But, it seems like she's been in here before... she knew exactly where to go, she went straight to my safe."

"Nothing was taken from my vault either…" Harry replied.

"Or the medicine cupboards, so she wasn't looking for drugs." Caitlin replied.

"Could she be Astrid's doppelganger from another earth?" Joe asked them.

"That would be something…" Astrid replied, "But, no… I have no other doppelgangers. I'm only alive on this earth because the gods allowed for Barry to travel through time and save me."

Joe shook his head, "That never gets easier to understand… Alright. I'll look into it. I'll report back to Captain Singh and keep you all updated… Barry, did you want to go with me?"

Barry glanced over at Caitlin, who had returned back to her medical bay, "Joe, could you give me a moment, please?"

Joe nodded and so Barry made his way towards Caitlin. "Hey, Cait… I was thinking about you and I going out for lunch or something this afternoon. I want to make it special just you and me."

Caitlin smiled at him, she thought back to what Astrid had told her about self-sabotaging her relationship with Barry. "Sure Barry. What did you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise." He said with a smile, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and disappeared with Joe over to CCPD.

Astrid approached Caitlin, "I'm glad to see you're taking my advice." She said with a warm smile.

"Why don't we just find your thieving double." Caitlin replied, her face blushing.

"Hey… Astrid having a double sort of gives me a few ideas." Cisco said as he stepped towards them.

"This I have to hear…" Astrid replied, raising her eyebrows.

Cisco grinned, "Well, you don't need to hear all the ideas I have… but, you know… you could quite literally be in two places at once… that would be pretty awesome… like you could be helping save the city and sitting a board meeting or a press conference at the same time… think about it…"

"Speaking of press conferences…" Harry replied as he turned the volume up on the news.

There were reports of Astrid's double being involved in crimes around town and quite literally disappearing afterwards.

"Ok… I didn't do that…" Astrid said pointing at the screen.

"Let's just hope Barry and Joe get to the bottom of this immediately!" Caitlin replied.

Over at CCPD, Barry and Joe alerted Captain Singh with their findings on the theft at STAR labs.

"The press is having a field day with all these thefts that they believe were done by Miss Sutherland. It just doesn't make sense!" Captain Singh said, "Please tell me that Captain Cold hasn't convinced her to go on another crime spree, like they did with Mercury Labs last year… it took me ages to deal with that one."

"I can vouch for her, Captain. It certainly wasn't Astrid… this time, besides… Captain Cold isn't anywhere in our time… zone. Time zone." Barry said.

Captain Singh looked up at Barry, "time zone, Barry? Alright… I'll take your word… but this girl has her finger prints on everything."

The door was suddenly opened, a female blonde officer hurried in. "Sorry I'm late, Captain Singh. I have been going over these reports all morning. I believe that Miss Sutherland is being set up. Before you send out these officers to arrest her… can you please, just take a look at these? All these cases have one thing in common… While all the DNA points to these suspects being the culprits… their backgrounds state otherwise. Murders, acts of cannibalism and robberies all these crimes are entirely out of character for these people… should I go on to mention that Barry Allen's father was susp…"

The woman stopped rambling as she saw that Captain Singh, Barry and Joe were all staring at her.

"Why is everybody looking at me like that?" she asked, confused.

"Joe… this young detective is your new partner. Detective Patty Spivot. Patty... this is your new partner Detective Joe West, and as you may be aware… Mr Barry Allen." Captain Singh said pointing at the two men.

"So… these aren't the officers that you are going to have arrest Astrid Sutherland?" she asked.

"Quite the opposite, actually." Barry replied, holding his hand out for the girl to shake. "I'm actually best friends with her and we're here to report a robbery up at STAR Labs."

Patty adjusted her glasses and shook Barry's hand "wow. You're Barry Allen? The Barry Allen… The Barry Allen who caught the speedster who both killed his mother and framed his father for it? Wow, this is pretty exciting for me… sorry, real fangirl moment right here!"

"This is my partner?" Joe demanded of Captain Singh, "She barely looks old enough to be out of the academy."

"I'm actually twenty-six… but I get that a lot, so I forgive you, i also take it as a compliment… and I promise that I'm good at my job… take these reports for instance!" she said in her defense.

"At least the three of you are in agreement with the fact that Astrid did not commit these crimes. So find the culprit who did. Joe, I trust that you can take Patty out and show her the ropes." Captain Singh said waving them out of his door.

"Thank you, Captain! You won't regret this!" Patty said excitedly as she left with Joe and Barry.

Joe led Barry and his new partner Patty to his office, where she took over Eddie's old desk. They began pouring over the articles.

"You see?" Patty began looking over the article that Barry had been reading over. "It's like every one of these people have an exact double… they all have the same finger prints, the MO is exactly the same in every crime. As if they're all part of some group of copy-cat criminals and unless Astrid is part of that group, which I highly doubt… Plus, we live in a world of meta-humans… there has to be some sort of link here."

Barry looked up at Joe, who knew exactly what he was going to do.

"Can the two of you excuse me for one moment, please?" Barry asked them with a hint of excitement.

"But, we're in the middle of a case?" Patty asked him.

"Go, Barry." Joe said.

Barry ran out of CCPD and over to the cortex, where the group were still gathered and blurted out "We're not dealing with a replica of Astrid… but with someone who can pose as many different people as they choose."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked him.

Barry held up the report to show them. "All these crimes consist of entirely different people, with only one MO… He has to be a meta-human. There's no other way."

"Are you saying that this man can turn into any one he wants?" Caitlin asked, confused.

"Yeah… Anyone, everyone…"

"Everyman!" Cisco butted in excitedly. "You guys, I think it's Morphin time!"


	2. Chapter 2

"You're telling me that there's a guy out there who can turn into anyone he wants at will, and that he… she… whoever it is, has been framing me for crimes?" Astrid asked trying to make sense of everything.

"That's pretty much it, yeah." Barry replied.

"I've seen this before, Sutherland." Harry said approaching them with his tablet in his hands. "Most shapeshifters need to possess some sort of remnant of their targets, in order to take their shape. Generally, they ingest their target's body parts such as traces of skin, nails, strands of their hair and sometimes even full body parts to get a perfect transformation…"

"Like a polly juice potion… Wait, what?" Cisco asked. "Full body parts?"

"Eww, that's just gross!" Caitlin groaned.

"Cannibals… I hate cannibals!" Astrid exclaimed. "I could have met this guy anywhere… and he's gathered strands of my hair? That's seriously creepy. Alright… so whoever we're looking for would have to have some sort of fascination with cannibalism and would have been injured in the meteor shower. They've had a year to hone in on their skills… You guys run a search for anyone that fits those categories… Check out people who frequent places where they can gain access to traces of DNA… such as hair dressers, health clinics, you name it… this is going to be a tough one. Barry, can you inform CCPD of this new lead? We're going to find this shapeshifting Hannibal Lecter!"

"What are you going to do, Astrid?" Barry asked her.

"Well, first I'm going to vomit… the thought of someone eating strands of my hair and nails it's just…ew. Then, I'm going to run a mind scan throughout the city, for thought patterns in relation to the Everyman... Yes, Cisco, it's a good name… Unfortunately, he'll probably be thinking in the voice of his victims. Which will make it difficult to say the least."

"Do we know if he can replicate the powers of his targets?" Caitlin asked.

"There's never been a case that comes to mind. So, let's just hope not." Dr Wells replied.

Barry ran back to CCPD, to deliver the latest news to Joe. As the two of them went over the extensive database of people who fit the bill, Patty reentered their office with coffees in hand.

"What have we found?" she asked, looking over their shoulders at the computer screen. But Joe and Barry tried to conceal what they were working on.

"Okay, I get that the two of you are used to working alone with these sorts of cases… but, we're supposed to be working together on this one." Patty explained.

"Alright," Barry said, feeling bad for the detective, "we think you might have been correct with your meta-human theory. We believe we might be searching for a shapeshifter."

"A shapeshifter?" Patty asked.

"Yeah… it sounds crazy, we know." Joe replied.

"No… that makes a world of sense…" Patty explained. She began to ramble excitedly as she took over the computer and began searching for every case that she might have overlooked in the past, that could be even remotely related to shape shifting and eventually came up with the name 'Hannibal Bates.'

Hannibal Bates had been working for Luthor Corp when the meteor shower had struck, though there was very little information available on him and there didn't seem to be any photos of the man either.

"Hannibal Bates?" Barry read. "Astrid is going to hate this… Cisco will love it though."

"I don't follow." Patty said, unsure as to what he was referring to, "You're not going to be keeping them up to date with the case are you… Our entire search has to remain confidential… you know that, right?"

"Yeah… I know." Barry replied.

"He was just making a joke." Joe defended him, "Bar… how bout you go and do that thing, now?"

"What thing?"

"You know that thing? Your laundry thing?" Joe lied.

"Right, my laundry…thing..." Barry said with a nod and left the office quickly, making haste for STAR Labs.

"Hannibal Bates?" Astrid scoffed. "Seriously Barry? You and Cisco… you guys are in on this together, aren't you? Of the two scariest… downright creepiest criminals… the two of you make one up that resembles them both?"

Cisco laughed. "Yes… I confess… we even brought the Scarecrow back in on this one too."

"The Scarecrow?" Barry asked, "Oh wait… that was the guy that you dealt with last Halloween, wasn't it, Cisco?"

"Yes it was. I never want to deal with the likes of him again." Caitlin cut in.

Astrid sighed. "I've tried scanning the city… it's difficult getting a mental imprint of someone posing as someone else… but one thing that is clear… he's no longer in my body anymore. But, I'll keep trying."

"Do we happen to have a picture of this Hannibal Bates, character?" Harry asked them.

"No, nothing was available. The information only said that he was an employee over at Luthor Corp." Barry replied. "Luthor Corp… well, that explains everything." Cisco smirked.

"Luthor Corp… I'm guessing I could call Lionel… find out if he has any information to give up… We may have cut ties, but I hope he can at least send us an employee report." Astrid said. "Their quarantine might still be up… but at least they can still get phone access..."

"Let me call him. I may have a way of getting him to speak that won't endanger STAR Labs." Harry replied, as he left towards his office to make the call.

"Wow... I'm surprised to say... I missed Harry." Astrid said. Cisco, Barry and Caitlin all agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's been a while since I last spoke with anyone from STAR Labs, DR Wells… Is this your way of trying to make amends?" Lionel asked Harry through the phone.

"You would like that, wouldn't you, Lionel? But no, this is my way of telling you that you have been withholding some very important information in relation to one of your former employees. You will send that information over immediately." DR Wells threatened with a calm tone.

"I apologize, but I don't understand… what information would I have that you need? And, why would I give it to you?"

"Because if you don't the whole world will know who is responsible for Smallville's aging cloud. I know why you did it I even hold the tools to reverse the effects… which will foil your plans for the next few years... I'm guessing that you do not want that to happen."

"You're bluffing! You know nothing…"

"Am I? It has to do with your son Alex… Well, Lex… and that boy known as Clark Kent… I'm guessing that they should both be by the ages of ten right now, am I correct?"

"Alright! You have proven your point! What do you want?"

"Good… I'm glad that we could come to an arrangement. There are two things that I want from you… Just know if there are any hidden agendas, I know what to do to take you down… I want the full profile of your former employee and test subject, Mr Hannibal Bates, complete with pictures, emailed to me within the hour…"

"It's interesting to see that Miss Sutherland has stepped up her game in the corporate world with hiring a shark such as yourself… but does she know who she really has working for her? Regardless, I have sent through the profile… What was the second favor that you needed?"

Harry glanced up at his door, the group could not overhear his conversation. He went on to request his second favor of Lionel Luthor.

Harry stormed back into the cortex and addressed the team, "Sutherland, Ramon, Snow… where's Allen?"

Cisco leant back on his chair, he had been having fun taunting Caitlin and Astrid with horror stories in relation to cannibals. "I think Barry left…" he replied.

"Yeah, something about a surprise for Caitlin…" Astrid added.

"Fair enough, you should all have a full profile of Hannibal Bates sent to your phones right now." Harry said.

"Wow, that was fast!" Astrid said, "Well, at least I know who to go to when I need to play shark with corporate leaders… It's good to have you back, Harry."

"It's all about strategy, Sutherland… Something I thought I taught you..."

"…I just received the profile on Hannibal Bates…" Barry interrupted as he entered the cortex, "At least we know how to draw him out… But, Caitlin are you ready for our little date?"

"I am… but, I really don't want to go out for food… No offense… but the whole cannibalism thing has made me a little queasy." Caitlin replied.

"I actually knew you would say that, which is why we're not going out for food… but I have something else planned..." Barry said smiling. He spun in a circle and when he stopped, he had changed out of his regular clothes and was dressed in a black suit.

He then disappeared again and returned with a fresh bouquet of white roses which he held out for her.

Caitlin approached him and smiled, "Aw Barry… you didn't have to do that." She blushed as she smelled the flowers.

"Yes, I did… I get that we have been struggling lately, and I want to make it up to you… to prove to you that I love you." Caitlin took the flowers and put them down on the desk. She then turned back and kissed him.

Cisco and Astrid grinned from the computer desk as they watched their friends. "Go, you guys! We'll handle Everyman!" Cisco said, as he waved them out of the office.

Astrid picked up the roses and smelt them. "Why don't you ever do anything romantic for me, anymore?" she asked Cisco.

"Hey... we're getting married … I think that's pretty romantic." He replied. "Wait, do you want romance? You never seemed too fussed about it before…"

She stared at him. "No, don't worry… it's fine." She picked up the roses and went to find a vase and some water to put them in.

Cisco got back to typing. Harry who had seen the whole thing shook his head. "Keep that up, Ramon… and you won't be getting married at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"  
Harry shook his head and went back to his office leaving Cisco in an utter state of confusion.

Barry covered Caitlin's eyes and brought her to the place that she had been waiting to travel to since she had been a young child. To the very top of The Eiffel tower, where the sun was setting beautifully over the city. They were standing on a ledge. He removed his hand from her eyes and faced her in the direction of the beautiful city down below.

She let out a sudden squeal of fear but then realized that he would not let her fall. "Barry… I… I don't know what to say." She stammered through breaths. "How are we here? Do we have enough time to be here? We're supposed to be catching Everyman with the others…"

"Cait, I'm the fastest man alive… so taking the woman I love and will always love, to her dream destination half way across the world, for her lunch break is one of the many benefits of my powers. So of course we have the time to be here… and then we will be home again to help save the city before the day is through." He said.

She nuzzled her head into his shoulder and continued to check out the view. But then something that he had said struck her. She turned to him. Barry, "You seem so sure about that… Like you're no longer in doubt about us…and about Iris." she said.

"Cait… I know how I feel about you. The feelings that I have for Iris, while they are there… are nothing compared to the way I feel about you. You're always doubting yourself. But, I wish that you would see just how perfect you are. How perfect you are to me… I get that every other Barry has an Iris… but, I need my Caitlin."

Caitlin smiled at him. Tears had formed in her eyes, though they were tears of happiness. "I think you should kiss me now before I start crying on the very top of the Eiffel Tower… We won't fall will we?"

Barry held her in his arms. "No, I won't let you fall." He held her tightly and kissed her, ensuring that he would not break his promise.


	4. Chapter 4

"I received a text from Barry asking if he could steal Caitlin for a little longer..." Astrid announced as she bypassed Cisco and Harry and made haste for the elevator. "...So I've given them the rest of the afternoon off. We'll sort out this Everyman mess out and give them some time to themselves."

Cisco got to his feet, "Hey, where are you headed?"

"I have to go and run a few errands, drop some money off at the bank and pick up my lunch… Which means that you and Harry have the cortex… and please… don't make a mess of things, or let that creepy cannibal up here, while I'm gone… please!" She stared at both he and Harry. Her manners were only a formality, she meant business.

"That last time wasn't my fault… Captain Cold and Heatwave were here and…" Cisco began but Harry interrupted his defense.

"Ramon, shut up... Sutherland, the cortex is in safe hands."

"Thank you, Harry…" Astrid replied she turned and left the cortex through the elevator doors.

"Hey Harry… what the hell did you mean before?" Cisco demanded as he followed Harry back to his office.

"Ramon… your love life is not important, right now. We have a shape shifting clone to hunt for…"

"It is very important… you said that I might not be able to get marr…" Suddenly the elevator door opened again they both turned around.

"Sutherland… have you forgotten something?" Harry asked staring at her.

"Yeah… I just forgot my phone… Can't go anywhere without my phone, can I?" she asked them.

She made haste for her office and closed the door behind her.

"I believe you were telling me what I'm doing wrong in my relationship…" Cisco probed Harry as they entered his office and closed the door to speak privately.

"Well first… Ramon, when a woman says that things are fine… they're not fine…" Harry said.

"Please, Astrid is… well she isn't your typical girl… I've known her since high school…"

"Then, why are you coming to me for advice?" Harry asked him.

Cisco stared at him, unblinkingly. "Ok, maybe there is something to what you're saying… and you know… you've been seriously… everywhere… and although I'm guessing you've never actually been with a woman… One that we've known, anyway..."

"Ramon… Do you want my advice or not?"

"Alright… lay it on me!"

As Harry continued to give Cisco his advice, they were unaware that the woman that they had just allowed into the cortex, wasn't Astrid, but Everyman in her form.

"Now, what kind of secrets does STAR Labs hold?" Hannibal Bates asked in Astrid's voice as he stepped out of her office and snooped the floor in the cortex.

"Miss Sutherland… Mr Ramon informed me of the importance of a rhetorical question…" Gideon's voice sounded through the speakers of the cortex. Unfortunately, with Harry's office door closed, he and Cisco were oblivious to what was going on.

"Shh… You stupid AI!" Everyman said, "Lower your voice."

"Is this better, Miss Sutherland?" Gideon asked in a lower volume.

"Much better… Now, remind me… what are we hiding up here?"

Gideon opened up the wall cupboard that concealed the super suits of the Flash, Vibe, Killer Frost and Mind Marvel. They were protected by an impenetrable glass screen.

"Well, well, well… that was a little more than I was expecting…" Everyman said.

He stepped towards the wall cupboards. "Can you…er… open the glass?" he asked the AI.

The glass opened before him, and Everyman stepped towards the Flash's red suit. He ran his hand along the neckline of the suit and noticed a small strand of hair on his finger tip. He brought the strand of hair to his mouth. "I wonder who the Flash really is." He said quietly.

He turned to leave, still in the form of Astrid, as Harry's office door opened and Cisco stepped out of the office, leaving Harry still inside.

"Astrid… er… you're still here?" Cisco stammered. "and you opened the cupboards… there hasn't been an emergency that I don't know about, has there?"

"No… no emergency… I just felt it would look nicer having them on display… We always hide them away." Everyman said.

"Yeah… that's what I said last time, remember? But you argued with me about it… Something about us having too many unexpected visitors in the cortex…" Cisco replied.

"Well… I think I've changed my mind… I'm allowed to change my mind aren't I?"

"Yeah… of course you are. You're the boss..."

Everyman smiled and left the cortex, leaving Cisco shaking his head. Harry's advice had given him a few ideas. He ran towards Astrid's office ready to plant a surprise in her office for her. He stopped when he saw her phone still sitting on her desk.

He picked it up, in an attempt to run after her, as he received a vibe. The vision showed him that the Astrid that had just left, was not his Astrid.

Everyman had taken the form of another man in the elevator. Cisco breached down to the ground level of STAR Labs. The elevator doors opened and a large group of people entered into the hall. The form that Everyman had taken was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah crap!" Cisco sighed. He breached back to the cortex to tell Harry the news.


	5. Chapter 5

While Harry called Barry and Caitlin back from their date, Cisco breached over to the National Bank, where he found Astrid standing in the line. Without giving her the chance to react, he grabbed a hold of her waist and breached her right back to the cortex.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What's the big deal, Cisco?"

"You forgot your phone!" he said handing it to her.

Astrid, Barry and Caitlin were all standing around with the same confused looks on their faces. "You brought us all back here because I left my phone?" she snapped.

"No! You're all back here because we have a problem." Harry said, "Everyman was here posing as Sutherland. Somehow, he managed to convince Gideon to reveal your suits to him. Ramon and I both believed it was really you… There's a chance he now possesses all our DNA. Who knows what trouble he could be framing us for."

"Well, now we know…" Barry announced as they all received an alert from Captain Singh. "He's framing the Flash… meaning, he knows who I am."

"He's on the train, there's a hostage situation." Astrid announced. "Barry, you and I will go… Cisco, Caitlin, Harry. You guys stay here. If either one of us return, by ourselves… Please be vigilant, cuff us, do whatever it takes… but don't let him know that you're onto him!"

"Maybe we should have some sort of code word." Caitlin suggested.

"What about… Hey, I'm not Everyman!" Cisco replied, making Astrid laugh.

"Ramon's right." Harry replied, "the last thing he would expect would be to have a nickname."

"Alright… we'll go with that." Barry replied, "Let's go, Astrid."

They both put on their costumes. Barry grabbed Astrid by the hand and ran across Central City, boarded the train, which had already left the station on route for Star City.

"Look there's two of them!" a passenger gasped. It was clear that they were in fear of Central City's scarlet speedster.

"Where's the other Flash?" Barry called out, but they feared him too much to speak up.

Astrid sent a calming wave of thoughts across the passengers. 'It's okay.' She telepathically assured them all. 'We're the good guys. Where did the other Flash go? You can trust us!'

"He's in the front cart!" someone called out.

The train shook violently. "Barry… the cart's going off course!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Alright, you stay here in case he comes back. I'll take control of the train." Barry said.

He ran towards the front cart, where the train conductor had been killed and the other Flash was nowhere to be seen.

"No sign of him!" Barry said via his communicator. "Everyman switched the train's course, onto the old tracks! We're headed for the river!"

"This is why the mayor should think about removing all the old train lines and stop wasting money on things that don't matter!" Astrid said in frustration, "Can you do something to stop it?"

"No, it's been wedged… we need to get these guys off the train, now!"

"There's five carts… we won't make it! You start getting people off the train, and I'll run my mind scan for Bates!"

As Barry began getting the passengers to safety cart by cart, Astrid walked along her cart trying to keep the passengers calm. She was in the fifth and final cart. The passengers had already noticed where the train was headed and were fearing for their lives.

"Shh… Shh… it's okay." Astrid told them, using her compulsion as she spoke. "You're all going to be okay. Ignore what is going on outside. I want you all to think of your happiest memories. Something that makes you smile every time you revisit that memory…" she smiled as the passengers began to calm down.

She noticed outside the window how far the train had left. "Flash, how we doing?" she asked, getting a little panicked.

"First carts free. Have you found him?" Barry asked.

Astrid ran her mind scan across the train. "I don't think he's on the train anymore… I can't read his thoughts... He must have jumped out…" she said as she ran towards the door at the end of the cart, to get a look at the next cart in front of her.

"Barry… you have to get everyone off the train, now!" Cisco called out from over at STAR Labs.

"The train is travelling too fast… You still have four carts to go… You have roughly two minutes to get them all out." Caitlin chimed in. "Come on you guys."

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Barry called back.

Astrid looked out the window. The train was running too fast for her to get people off.

"Screw this! I'm breaching over there to help!" Cisco said.

Before Astrid knew it, he had breached into the middle of the third cart and started breaching its passengers to safety.

"You guys! I picked up Everyman's thoughts! I think he knows that I'm a telepath I think he tried concealing his thoughts earlier!" Astrid exclaimed. "He's on one of the carts!"

"No time to worry about him, now!" Caitlin said. "You guys, move quicker! The train is about to fall!"

They could hear that she had tears in her eyes. The train rocked and made a loud screeching sound. Astrid looked out the windows, one of the carts had begun to fall.

"Hurry up you guys!" Astrid pleaded, she ran to the back of the cart, ensuring that there were no carts behind the one that she was in.

"I'm headed for the forth cart, now!" Barry said.

"Mind Marvel, I'm breaching to your cart!" Cisco added.

Within seconds, there was a breach before her, Vibe had arrived onto her cart. He opened a new portal. "Everyone, this is a breach, it will take you to safety! Go! Go!" he instructed. The crowds of people on the train began to flock towards the breach.

Suddenly they felt the train tip, knocking them both off balance. The breach closed as Vibe and Mind Marvel, along with the remaining passengers fell and skidded towards the door at the front of the cart. "This door isn't going to hold!" Astrid exclaimed, as Cisco took a hold of her hand.

"Flash, save us!" Vibe called out.

"I'm doing the best i can!" Barry called back.

"he's not going to make it!" Astrid said to Cisco with a few tears in her eyes.

"yes he will. You need to convince everyone that he will." Vibe told her.

Astrid sighed and took a deep breath, sending calming thoughts to the crowd of people around her.

She closed her eyes as they felt the moment the train fell off the edge.


	6. Chapter 6

Barry ran, phasing through to the fifth and final cart. Time had stopped all around him, but the train was still falling, just slowly. There were only seven passengers left, plus Astrid and Cisco.

Cisco didn't have enough time to breach them all out of the train. But Barry had an idea. He ran around the group, phasing through the trains physical structure. He created a vortex around the group. The train was still frozen in midair, but the passengers and his friends were moving at a regular speed.

They were confused about what was going on. "Vibe, you need to create a breach through the door below your feet!" Barry said. Cisco looked at him, confused.

"Do it, Vibe… now!" Astrid said in a panic.

"Sure. Here goes nothing." Cisco created a breach below the feet of them all. As time sped up again, they all fell through and landed on to the city streets, along with the rest of the passengers from the other carts. The empty train crashed into the river, everyone had gotten out safely.

Vibe hugged Mind Marvel, surprised that they had all made it safely. They took a few moments to regain their composure.

Astrid, who felt bad for doubting their friend Barry earlier, knew that she would need to thank him the moment they got back to STAR Labs.

When the Flash finally approached them, Cisco formed a breach taking them all back to the cortex, where Caitlin was anxiously waiting for them. "You guys! You did it!" Caitlin cried. Astrid and Cisco removed their communicators, and Barry pulled off his mask.

"I take it by the three of you all being here, Everyman got away, again." Harry said, annoyed.

"It's okay… I'll get him!" Barry replied. He went to leave, but Astrid took hold of his arm.

"Barry… can we talk? Please?" she asked him.

"Sure." He followed her into her office.

"So, look… I doubted you back there… and I want to apologize."

"You want to apologize?" Barry asked her.

"Yeah… and no, it's not forced… it's an actual apology. So, I'm sorry for doubting you… I also wanted to thank you. I guess I was scared back there and I thought that we were all done for and that we could have died… and you saved us."

"Wow… coming from Astrid Sutherland, that's… that's something…" Barry replied.

"Haha, funny… is that some sort of dig because I'm too proud? Thanks, Barry, way to ruin it. But, I'm serious… I need you to know that after everything that we've been through… Things have been difficult, the fight over Kent, our fight over me betraying your trust to Singh… I'm trying to work on us being in a better place. I want us to be good again, like we used to be. Remember?"

"Okay, I got it… are you sure it's really you… Astrid? And not this… this Everyman?" Barry asked her.

"Ha! Funny! Okay, that's it… we should go and join the others and find this guy." Astrid said as she put her hand on her door to open.

"Good, because I think we're already in a better place." Barry replied. As he said those words, he grabbed hold of Astrid's hand and kissed her on the mouth.

She pushed him away immediately and slapped him. "Seriously! Why is it that every time i choose not read my friend's minds... it always comes back and bites me in the ass?" She snapped, realizing that she had been duped.

"I'm sorry. Was that not my cue to kiss you?" Barry asked her, "Maybe this face would be a little more to your liking." He took the image of Cisco. "Now, how 'bout that kiss?"

Astrid tried to think about where the closest set of cuffs were held, unfortunately she knew that there were none in her office. She kept her back to the door, she wasn't going to let him pass her.

"Girl, do you want to fight me?" he asked her in the voice of Cisco. "Well, bring it."

Astrid let off a mind scream into his head. She barely had the energy so it didnt have her desired level of impact, however, it still brought him down. She opened the door to the cortex. Her friends were no longer in there. But, before she could turn around, he knocked her over the head with her laptop. It smashed on impact and knocked her out. Bates, who was still in Cisco's form left her office and locked the door from the outside.

He saw Caitlin enter her medical bay from Harry's office. "Cisco, I thought you went into your workshop to build that thing."

"Yeah, I just wanted to check in on you. How you doing?" Bates asked her. He was trying to improvise an escape.

"Yeah, good. Why? Don't I look okay?" she asked as she sat down at her desk.

"You just look a little stressed, that's all…" he said as he stood behind her and brought his hands to her shoulders. He began to rub them, giving her a shoulder massage.

"Cisco, you're making me a little uncomfortable." Caitlin said, uneasy.

"That's because it's not him!" Harry said as he entered the cortex.

Astrid stood at her open office door. She had unlocked it from the inside. "Let go of her!" she demanded of Hannibal.

But he pulled out a scalpel and held it to Caitlin's throat. "Do your psychic attack again and I will slit her throat."

"Put the scalpel down." Astrid said, she tried to compel him, but she was drained of mental energy.

Suddenly, Barry and Cisco arrived in the cortex via breach. It made sense why Barry hadn't come sooner. Everyman had cuffed him earlier at the site where he had gotten the passengers to safety. He was still cuffed. Cisco had clearly worked it out sooner and breached back to their location.

"You guys!" Caitlin pleaded.

Barry and Cisco looked over at them. "Astrid, use your mind scream!" Barry announced, concerned for Caitlin's welfare.

"I can't I'm still worn out from the train." Astrid said. She noticed Caitlin's necklace next to the scalpel.

"I would send a blast in his direction…" Cisco began, "…but…er… I don't want to risk hurting her…"

Astrid sent a message into Barry's mind without taking her eyes off Bates. 'Barry, find a key for those cuffs. I have an idea.'

"Hannibal Bates… please, that necklace that Caitlin is wearing is very valuable… take it… just don't hurt our friend…" She pleaded.

"I'm not here for silly trinkets!" he said, as he ripped the chain from Caitlin's neck and threw it the floor. He noticed Barry attempt to move to find the key. "uh uh uh… If you move… Caitlin dies… I don't think any of you wish to see your sweet little doctor die… do you?"

The group watched the moment that Frost had taken over for Caitlin. Hannibal Bates had not yet noticed. He was too busy trying to determine the attacks from the others.

She took a hold of Everyman's hand and froze it in place. "what the hell?" Bates demanded. He looked down to see Frost.

Barry had taken the distraction as an opportunity to find the key. He found it, and the moment he did, Hannibal Bates was locked up in the pipelines down below.


	7. Chapter 7

"Barry! I'm so glad you and the rest of the team are safe after that train incident. The media is having a field day with it. Did you manage to find him?" Joe asked, as Barry hurried into the detective's office.

"Bates is locked up over at STAR Labs!" Barry replied in a low whisper.

"He's what?" Patty asked them, shocked. She had entered the office behind Barry and had overheard their conversation "Why is he there and not here in custody… Barry that's strictly against protocol, he should be over at Iron Heights."

Joe and Barry looked at her, they hadn't expected for her to walk in at that point and hear them.

"Bates is dangerous." Barry defended, "STAR Labs has the best facilities to keep meta-human criminals like him so they no longer pose a risk to the city."

"I'm sorry, but I don't agree. Look what happened with those two thieves, Leonard Snart and Mick Rory. It was all over the news, they were tied up at STAR labs… and then all of a sudden, they've disappeared and their criminal slates have been wiped clean." Patty argued.

"Wiped clean, Barry?" Joe asked. Barry looked at Joe puzzled, he had no clue in regards to this information. He knew that Patty was right, but at the same time letting out Everyman would be prove very risky.

"I'm going to report this to the Captain immediately." Patty said as she stormed back out of the office.

"No, no, no… Patty don't!" Barry pleaded.

"Why not, Barry?" she asked. "I got into this job to make a difference, to serve and to protect. That includes standing against corruption and doing the right thing… you know that this is the right thing, Barry. I won't let you stop me."

Patty stormed out of the office and found Captain Singh sitting at his desk "Captain Singh. Hannibal Bates has been captured, I demand that you allow me to make the arrest." She announced.

"What's stopping you, detective Spivot?" he asked, just as Joe and Barry arrived behind her.

"He's being held over at STAR Labs." she said.

Singh stared at them all. He knew that his hands were tied. "Okay, Patty. You can accompany detective West and bring Hannibal Bates into our custody."

Patty and Joe left the office, but Barry pleaded with Captain Singh. "Please, Captain… after the train today… after everything this man has done… I'm concerned that transferring him could be dangerous."

"Barry… I'm sorry, but my hands are tired. STAR Labs is not a prison. We can't keep criminals locked up there. Look what happened with Captain Cold and Heatwave. I get that the lot of you are doing a good job helping keep this city safe, but we still have to follow protocol. If you want, you and I will accompany them to transfer Bates. Prepare your friends, in case something happens."

"Yes sir." Barry replied.

"Let me get this straight… you want us to transfer a man, who is safely in the pipeline over into police custody?" Cisco demanded.

"Captain Singh requested it. Keeping him here is against the law." Barry replied.

"Cisco, Barry's right…" Astrid replied, "I worked for CCPD for years… I can't argue with protocol. But, let's just hope that they don't find anything else that could incriminate us."

"Yeah… like any other meta-villains that we have down there… Or that our guards don't mention anything about how they are made to feed the prisoners down below… because, you know… we could be shut down." Cisco said sarcastically.

He stormed away, and muttered under his breath, "This place will be the death of me!"

"Cisco," Barry called out to his friend.

"Don't worry… I'll talk to him after." Astrid replied.

"Sutherland, do you want me to accompany Barry and CCPD down to the pipeline?" Harry asked.

"No, I'll go. You and Caitlin just keep an eye on Cisco for me." Barry and Astrid headed down stairs to meet with the detectives down in the main entrance foyer.

"Well, you wanted her out of the cortex, Cisco." Caitlin said once they had left.

"Yeah… but risking STAR Labs secrets wasn't the way that I wanted it all to go down." Cisco replied, "Regardless… let's do this." He stroked his hair behind his ear, revealing that he had been wearing his neuro blocker gear to prevent Astrid from reading his mind. Fortunately, she hadn't noticed.

"I'm just glad you're taking my advice, Ramon." Harry replied.

Barry and Astrid met with Captain Singh, detective West and detective Patty Spivot.

"Hi, Singh, a pleasure as usual." Astrid said with a smile.

The captain led her away subtly so they couldn't be overheard. "I get that this is an inconvenience, and while I wouldn't generally do this… But, if any of you have anything else down in these cells… I would suggest you get rid of them immediately." He warned her in a whisper.

"I understand. Don't worry. Hannibal Bates is all that we have down there." She replied.

"I hope your right, Astrid… because Detective Spivot will not let it slide otherwise."

Astrid smiled, and approached Patty with her hand outstretched. "Hi, I'm Astrid."

"Oh, I know who you are… which is why I want to apologize for all this inconvenience. In fact, I love what you do. You're an amazing woman… A real inspirational icon… and the work that STAR Labs does on meta-humans it's just amazing." Patty said rambling.

"Wow, Barry… she reminds me of you when you first started up at CCPD," Astrid said with a laugh. She led them to the elevator and completed the security scan to take them down to the lower floors. "Okay, let's go. I hope that you're all prepared, because the minute the glass opens… he will try and trick you all."

When the elevator opened back up, Barry and Astrid led them to the pipelines and completed Gideon's access pass. The security systems had been upgraded and required two employees to complete their scans at the same time.

"So this is him?" Patty asked when they arrived at Hannibal's cell.

"This is him." Barry said.

"He doesn't seem so bad."

Captain Singh and Detective Joe readied their weapons, as Astrid pushed the button to open the cell. Patty stood with the cuffs at the ready.

The glass slid open and Everyman instantly took the form of a man that none of them recognized, except for detective Spivot.

"Dad." Patty gasped.

"Oh, Patty. I missed you." He said.

"It's a trick, Detective." Captain Singh said.

"Right… a trick…" Patty said, clutching the cuffs. "Hannibal Bates, you have the right to remain silent…" Before she could cuff him, Hannibal charged for her, knocking her to the ground. He then took the form of the Flash and knocked Joe over, retrieving his gun in the process.

He took hold of Astrid and held the gun at her temple. Singh aimed the weapon at the Flash imposter who had Astrid at gunpoint.

While the attention was on the two of them, Barry disappeared and returned as the Flash, retrieving the handcuffs from Spivot and cuffing Everyman into custody. Barry redressed into his regular clothes and found his original place.

"That was really the Flash!" Patty gasped, as she noticed Barry standing beside her.

"And people call me a master of disguise!" Hannibal Bates said, looking over at Barry.

"Alright, take him away!" Captain Singh said as he, Joe and Patty led him out of the pipeline and out of STAR Labs.

Barry and Astrid took their time closing up the pipelines to have some time to talk. "You know… I actually apologized to you today, Barry." Astrid said with a smile.

"You apologized to me? Really? When?" he asked.

"Well, I apologized to Hannibal who was in your body… so that counts."

"No it doesn't… it doesn't count. What were you apologizing for, anyway?"

"Well, it's no secret that you and I haven't been seeing eye to eye for a while… since…"

"…Since you told Captain Singh my secret… and I kept you in the dark about Kent."

"Yeah… but, today when you saved us on the train, I actually doubted that you would save us in time. But, you proved me wrong… I apologized for that too."

"You actually apologized… Damn, I'm so annoyed that I missed it!" Barry replied with a grin planted on his face.

"…Oh, it was a good one… but, seriously… Just before... we both know that I could have taken Everyman down… but I left it up to you. Because I knew that after everything… that you would have my back." She explained.

"Yeah, I will always have your back, Astrid… You, Caitlin, Cisco… even Harry."

"Good… and that goes both ways." It was good that they were finally seeing eye to eye again.

"So what did Bates say when you apologized?" Barry asked.

"Dude… that creep kissed me! I thought I was going to vomit. And then he turned into Cisco and smashed me over the head with my laptop…"

"Wow… he actually fooled you."

"Shut up, Barry. Let's go join the others. But first… you're a guy. I want to do something romantic for Cisco… You seriously just surprised Caitlin with a trip to Paris… I need tips."

"Can we mark this in our calendars? You've both apologized to me, and now you're actually coming to me for advice in one day… Are you sick?" He placed the back of his hand to her forehead to check her temperature.

"No, I'm not sick... But either you give me some advice… or we'll forget that this ever happened."

"I guess I can't argue with that." Barry agreed and continued to give her advice.


	8. Chapter 8

When Barry and Astrid returned to the cortex, they were met by the sight of thousands of roses scattered across the room. Cisco had even returned home to find a black suit for the occasion, he was standing in the middle of the cortex with a smug grin on his face.

Harry and Caitlin stood against the computer desk, waiting for the scene to unfold.

"Cisco? What is this?" Astrid asked, as Barry took his spot beside Caitlin and Harry.

"This is your proposal…" Cisco said, a little nervous as he pulled out the red box that contained her adopted mother's wedding ring inside. "So when you and I agreed to get married it was because we thought we were going to die… and then yeah, we still agreed to it afterwards. But earlier when we were talking about romance… Harry said something about me being in trouble and…"

Astrid raised her eyebrows and gave him a side smile, waiting for him to continue rambling.

"…Then he said that when a girl says things are fine… they're actually not… and while you're not exactly the typical girl…"

"…I'm not a typical girl?" she asked him.

"Ouch…" Barry muttered under his breath.

"Not a good start…" Caitlin commented.

"…Oh, I didn't mean that in a bad way… I meant it in a way… umm… You're like a jedi… No… I'm really crumbling here, aren't I?" Cisco asked her.

Astrid giggled. "…keep going, Cisco… With your movie history… you'll think of something that fits."

Cisco cleared his throat nervously. He looked over at Harry, who ignored him. Maybe it was nerves but he couldn't think of the perfect line or movie reference.

"You know what… screw movie references… I don't want to make it some silly parody. Astrid, you are the coolest, most beautiful and strongest woman, I know. And while you would probably be the one proposing to me, I want to do this. I don't want you to always think that you have to have everything covered all the time. I want to be the wind beneath your wings… Will you marry me?"

Astrid gave a nervous laugh. "Wind beneath my wings? Cisco. You already are… Of course I will."

Barry, Caitlin and Harry cheered.

Cisco wrapped his arms around Astrid and kissed her, almost dropping the ring from his hands. "I should er… probably give you this, hey?" Cisco asked, as he put the ring on her finger.

Their friends came up and hugged them.

Barry looked over at Astrid, as if to remind her as to what they had been discussing earlier.

"Oh! One minute, Cisco!" Astrid said, pulling out the box that Barry had retrieved for her.

"that's not another ring is it?" Cisco asked her.

"What? No." she replied, she gave him the box so he opened it. "It's key." He said.

"Yeah, it's a key to… as you've always called it, Sutherland mansion." She replied. "It kind of pales in comparison to all of this… there was going to be a speech… but…"

"What do I need a key for? I can breach in anytime I want."

"No… it's what it represents… That it will become both our home… it saves us finding a new place or…"

He could tell that she was nervous. "You do realize that's an open invitation to find my movies and shirts scattered all over the place… Before we get married?"

"What's the difference to how It is now?"

"True!" he placed the key in his pocket and opened a breach. "Let's go home!" he said.

"Hey… are the two of you forgetting the rest of us are still standing here?" Caitlin asked.

"Nope." Cisco said with a smile. "have a good afternoon, guys!"

He and Astrid left by the breach and it closed behind them.


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, that was nice… they just totally left us with the mess." Barry joked.

"Yeah. But, that's nothing that the fastest man alive can't fix." Caitlin laughed.

"Really? I didn't even make the mess… But fine…" Barry replied. He cleaned the entire cortex within the blink of an eye.

"Well, if the two of you have things covered… I'm leaving for the day." Harry said, taking his leave.

"I often wonder where he goes when he's not at work. Like, does he even have a life?" Caitlin asked when she and Barry were alone.

"Good question… My guess… He probably takes ballroom dancing classes." Barry suggested.

Caitlin laughed, "ballroom dancing? I think he'd be a little stiff with those moves, Barry."

"Maybe…" Barry replied. He used his speed to turn the music on over at Cisco's computer and returned to Caitlin. "Speaking of ballroom dancing. Do you want to dance, Snow? We kind of had our date cut pretty short."

"Sure…" She replied with a smile.

"Actually… hold that thought…" Barry said. He disappeared in an instant and when he returned, he had changed her clothes into the beautiful green gown that she had worn on their first date. He was dressed in a stylish black suit. "Now, we can dance!" he told her with a cheap grin.

"Oh, you're smooth, Barry Allen." Caitlin smiled. She took his outstretched hand and the two of them danced in the middle of the cortex, happy to be in each other's arms again.

Harry returned to his home, pulled out his phone and made a call.

"I spoke to him today, Luthor has delivered on his promise and it didn't take too much persuasion…"


	10. Chapter 10

A breach formed, in the dead of the night and a dark haired mysterious man with dark eyes stepped out and in to the city. He looked around himself, "Such a primitive city." He scoffed. He stared up at a house, hoping that no one would see him arrive.

There was a light on the inside. Someone must have been awake. He made his way towards the door and adjusted his short dark hair. He knocked loud enough for whoever was inside to hear. This was his one shot. He could not mess things up.

The door opened and Iris West was standing there. She was much younger than he could remember, but there was no mistake. It was certainly her.

"Hello?" she said, confusion was written across her face, she had clearly been taken in by his handsome appearance. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Er… hi, my car broke down at the end of the road… and my phone's gone flat. Can I please use yours?" he stammered.

She stepped aside from the door and led him in to the house. She picked up her phone from the coffee table and handed it to him. "Here…" she said.

"Thanks." He said, taking the phone. He took a few steps away from her and placed the phone against his ear.

"You never did tell me your name…" Iris said.

In one swift moment, he opened a breach. She gasped as she saw it and said, "What's going on? You're not related to a friend of mine, are you?"

The man gave a cocky smile, "Step through the breach, Iris." He compelled her. She could not fight his compulsion. She stepped through and he sealed it shut behind her, locking her inside. He stared at the phone in his hand.

"Come and find me, uncle Barry." He muttered under his breath. He pulled out what looked like a portable charger from his pocket and connected it to the phone in his hand.

The phone wiped itself clear of all its data and a message came up on the screen in green writing, "Game on!"


End file.
